What Happens To A House When The Owner Dies

One of the most troublesome things about properties can be when a person dies or a situation with probate. Many people still don’t have a will, and even if they do, they may either be out-dated or they aren’t fully enforceable when it comes to the property. In these types of situations, there are rules of Intestacy, meaning regulations or standard procedures for what happens to assets when a will is not present. These rules may differ for each state, but in Texas, they refer to the Texas Probate Code and judge who will be able to inherit the property, as well as other assets.

Home Inheritance and Next Steps

As long as there aren’t other types of bank, tax, or other liens, the property will generally be inherited by a single or multiple next of kin. In the case of a parent, it will be inherited by the children. This can produce a host of other problems. For a single child, it’s easier to accommodate the transition, but in situations where there are multiple heirs, each heir will receive a % ownership of the property. The challenge is that in order for the children to sell the property they must all agree on it. It’s not uncommon for all but one child to agree to sell and it’s completely held up because the one that’s resisting ends up either wanting to hold on to it or starts to use the property as their homestead. This can lead to a long and arduous judicial process to override the single resistant heir if they are not able to convince them to sell their share of the property.

Aside from issues of multiple inheritance, taking over a home will require some maintenance and preparation. It’s important for owners of a home to have a vacant home insurance policy if no one is living in it in order to protect the estate from liabilities and maintain the well-being of the structure and it’s environment.

Ensuring that at least a minimum of care is provided is essential when keeping the property in a good enough condition to sell for the maximum amount of return. In cases where they don’t want to maintain them or go through a real estate agent process, they can sell their home to a real estate investor who will guide them through all the necessary steps and get cash in their hands much more quickly.

Some ways to determine ownership of the property when someone dies in Texas can include a probate process, if a Will was present, or handling an affidavit of heirship. Some heirs will avoid the probate process regardless because they want to save some time and money, and this may sometimes be the easiest option if there is a conflict with multiple heirs.

How To Sell The Inherited Home

The first step to preparing the house for sale is getting the Affidavit of Heirship sorted out. The sole purpose of this document is to identify who the legal heirs are to the property, and who gains ownership of it. It must have two individuals who know the family but are not members of it that can described the deceased’s family and marriage history, therefore establishing who the legal heirs are. From there, the heirs must agree to what is to be done with the home, then it can be prepared to transfer the title to the heirs and make it clean. Both documents will be filed and recorded by the county clerk, or equivalent for the county/parish you are in.

The second step is to prepare the deed for the transfer of title. The Affidavit and the Warranty Deed are filed together. This process can be a bit complicated if there are many heirs, but as long as they’re in agreement, it should be a straightforward process that requires a little bit of patience.

Once these two steps are handled, the property is now legally ready to be sold, and can be done very quickly through a real estate investor.

Here’s an explanation on Affidavit of Heirship.

At Sell My House Easy Fast, we can assist in the process of claiming an inherited property as well as selling it so that the heirs can receive a cash amount and not deal with repairs, agents, and traditional buyer negotiations. We’ve helped other homeowners who have been in various situations regarding inheritance or issues with other heirs not wanting to handle the house in the same way as their siblings. You may search for ways to get cash for your house in Houston and come across a load of real estate investor companies that don’t really give a helping hand to the issues homeowners are going through.

Give us a call or use our contact form to get in touch and we can work through it together as your Houston home buyer.